citizen

See also: Citizen

English

Alternative forms

• cytesin (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English citeseyn, citezein, borrowed from Anglo-Norman citesain (“burgher; city-dweller”), citezein etc., probably a variant of cithein under influence of deinzein (“denizen”), from Anglo-Norman and Old French citeain etc. and citaien, citeien etc. ("burgher"; modern French citoyen), from cité ("settlement; cathedral city, city"; modern French cité) + -ain or -ien (“-an, -ian”). See city and hewe.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪtɪzən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪtɪzən/, /ˈsɪtɪsən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

citizen (plural citizens)

1. A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally-recognized rights or duties. [from 14th c.]

   Synonyms: burgess, burgher, cityite, freeman

   Hyponyms: citess, (female) citizeness

   • 1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “What Florence was Thinking of”, in Romola. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC, book II, page 180:

     [T]hat large body of the working men who were not counted as citizens and had not so much as a vote to serve as an anodyne to their stomachs were likely to get impatient.

2. A legally-recognized member of a state, with associated rights and obligations; a person considered in terms of this role. [from 14th c.]
   • 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 4:

     Assistant: You'll meet with the managing director and Dr Sinita Brahmachari, the engineer who designed the chair.
     Peter Mackenzie: Indian, is he?
     Assistant: She is a British citizen, Minister. Born in Coventry.

   • 2012 January, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 8 January 2012, page 74:

     Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.

   I am a Roman citizen.

   Synonyms: countryman, national

   Antonyms: alien, illegal alien, foreigner, (colloquial) illegal

   Hyponyms: first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen, native, naturalized citizen, senior citizen, corporate citizen

3. An inhabitant or occupant: a member of any place. [from 14th c.]

   Diogenes reckoned himself a citizen of the world.

   • 1979 October, Boys' Life, page 33:

     A jellyfish... carries poison cells that can sting other citizens of the sea.

   Synonyms: denizen, local, inhabitant, native, occupant, resident

   Antonyms: alien, outsider, stranger

4. (Christianity) A resident of the heavenly city or (later) of the kingdom of God: a Christian; a good Christian. [from 15th c.]
5. A civilian, as opposed to a police officer, soldier, or member of some other specialized (usually state) group. [from 16th c.]
6. (obsolete) An ordinary person, as opposed to nobles and landed gentry on one side and peasants, craftsmen, and laborers on the other. [17th–19th c.]
   • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, III.v.6:

     [W]ould Mr. Delvile, who hardly ever spoke but to the high-born, without seeming to think his dignity somewhat injured, deign to receive for a daughter in law the child of a citizen and tradesman?

7. (now historical, usually capitalized) A term of address among French citizens during the French Revolution or towards its supporters elsewhere; (later, dated) a term of address among socialists and communists. [from 18th c.]
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, “In Secret”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book III (The Track of a Storm), page 166:

     Citizen, I desire nothing more than to get to Paris, though I could dispense with the escort.

   Synonym: (term of address among communists) comrade

8. (computing) An object.

   Hyponyms: first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen

Synonyms

• burgess
• burgher
• denizen
• townsman, townswoman

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "resident of a city"): countryfolk, country gentleman, countryman, peasant, villager

Hyponyms

• (person who is legally recognized as a member or resident): first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen

Derived terms

• anticitizen
• citizen band
• citizendom
• citizeness
• citizenhood
• citizenish
• citizen journalism
• citizen journalist
• citizen king
• citizen life
• citizenlike
• citizenly
• citizen magistrate
• citizen media
• citizen of nature
• citizen of the world
• citizen prince
• citizenry
• citizen's arrest
• citizens' band
• citizens band
• Citizens' Charter
• citizen science
• citizen scientist
• citizenship
• citizens' media
• citizen soldier
• citizen sovereign
• corporate citizen
• dual citizen
• fellow citizen
• market citizen
• noncitizen
• private citizen
• sovereign citizen
• world citizen

 

Related terms

• citify
• city
• civil
• civilian

 

Translations

legal member of a state

• Afrikaans: burger (af)
• Albanian: shtetas (sq) m
• Arabic: مُوَاطِن m (muwāṭin), مُوَاطِنَة (ar) f (muwāṭina)
• Armenian: քաղաքացի (hy) (kʿaġakʿacʿi)
• Asturian: ciudadanu m
• Azerbaijani: vətəndaş (az), yurddaş
• Bashkir: граждан (grajdan)
• Belarusian: грамадзя́нін m (hramadzjánin), грамадзя́нка f (hramadzjánka)
• Bengali: নাগরিক (bn) (nagrik)
• Bikol Central: namamanwaan
• Bulgarian: гра́жданин (bg) m (gráždanin), гра́жданка f (gráždanka)
• Burmese: နိုင်ငံသား (my) (nuingngamsa:)
• Catalan: ciutadà (ca) m, ciutadana (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 公民 (zh) (gōngmín), 市民 (zh) (shìmín), 國民／国民 (zh) (guómín)

• Crimean Tatar: vatandaş
• Czech: občan (cs) m, občanka (cs) f
• Danish: borger (da) c, statsborger (da) c
• Dutch: burger (nl) m, staatsburger (nl) m
• Erzya: ошаля m (ošaľa), ошава f (ošava), ошломань f (ošlomań)
• Esperanto: civitano, civitanino (female)
• Estonian: kodanik
• Finnish: kansalainen (fi)
• French: citoyen (fr) m, citoyenne (fr) f
• Galician: cidadán (gl) m, cidadá f
• Georgian: მოქალაქე (mokalake)
• German: Staatsbürger (de) m, Staatsbürgerin (de) f, Bürger (de) m, Bürgerin (de) f

  Middle High German: burgære m

• Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌾𐌰 m (baurgja)
• Greek: πολίτης (el) m or f (polítis), υπήκοος (el) m or f (ypíkoos)

  Ancient: πολίτης m (polítēs)

• Hebrew: אֶזרָח (he) m (ezrákh)
• Hindi: नागरिक (hi) m or f (nāgrik)
• Hungarian: állampolgár (hu)
• Icelandic: ríkisborgari (is) m
• Indonesian: warga negara (id), rakyat (id)
• Irish: saoránach m
• Italian: cittadino (it) m, cittadina (it) f
• Japanese: 市民 (ja) (しみん, shimin), 公民 (ja) (こうみん, kōmin), 国民 (ja) (こくみん, kokumin)
• Kazakh: азамат (kk) (azamat)
• Khmer: ពលរដ្ឋ (km) (pŭəllĕəʼrŏət)
• Korean: 국민(國民) (ko) (gungmin) 시민(市民) (ko) (simin)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: welatî (ku), hevwelatî (ku), welatvan (ku)

• Kyrgyz: гражданин (ky) (grajdanin), жаран (ky) (jaran), атуул (atuul)
• Lao: ພົນລະເມືອງ (phon la mư̄ang)
• Latin: cīvis (la) m or f
• Latvian: pilsonis m, pilsone f
• Lithuanian: pilietis m
• Macedonian: државјанин m (državjanin), државјанка f (državjanka), граѓанин m (graǵanin), граѓанка f (graǵanka)
• Malay: warganegara (ms)
• Malayalam: പൗരൻ (ml) (pauraṉ)
• Maltese: ċittadin m
• Maori: tangatawhenua, kirirarau
• Marathi: नागरिक (nāgrik)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: иргэн (mn) (irgen)

  Mongolian: ᠢᠷᠭᠡᠨ (irgen)

• Norman: citouoyen m (Jersey), citouoyenne f (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: borger m, statsborger (no) m

  Nynorsk: borgar m, statsborgar m

• Occitan: ciutadan (oc) m, ciutadana (oc) f
• Pashto: وګړى m (wagᶕṛay), تابع (ps) m (tābe'), تبعه (ps) m (taba'a), رعيت (ps) m (ra'yat)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: شَهْرْوَنْد (fa) (šahrvand)

• Plautdietsch: Birja m
• Polish: obywatel (pl) m, obywatelka (pl) f
• Portuguese: cidadão (pt) m, cidadã (pt) f
• Romanian: cetățean (ro) m, cetățeană (ro) f
• Russian: граждани́н (ru) m (graždanín), гражда́нка (ru) f (graždánka), по́дданный (ru) m (póddannyj), по́дданная (ru) f (póddannaja)
• Scots: ceetizen
• Scottish Gaelic: saoranach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: др̀жављанин m, др̀жавља̄нка f

  Roman: dr̀žavljanin (sh) m, dr̀žavljānka (sh) f

• Shan: ၵူၼ်းမိူင်း (kúun móeng)
• Sinhalese: පුරවැසියා (si) (purawæsiyā)
• Slovak: občan m, občianka f
• Slovene: državljan m, državljanka f
• Spanish: ciudadano (es) m, ciudadana (es) f
• Swahili: mwananchi (sw)
• Swedish: medborgare (sv) c, statsborgare c
• Tagalog: mamamayan (tl)
• Tajik: шаҳрванд (tg) (šahrvand), гражданин (graždanin)
• Tamil: குடிமகன் (ta) m (kuṭimakaṉ), குடிமகள் (ta) f (kuṭimakaḷ), குடிமக்கள் (ta) pl (kuṭimakkaḷ), பிரசை (ta) (piracai), பிரஜை (ta) (pirajai)
• Tatar: ватандаш (tt) (watandaş)
• Thai: พลเมือง (th) (pon-lá-mʉʉang)
• Turkish: yurttaş (tr), vatandaş (tr)
• Turkmen: grajjdan, raýat (tk)
• Ukrainian: громадя́нин (uk) m (hromadjányn), громадя́нка f (hromadjánka)
• Urdu: شَہْری m (śahrī)
• Uyghur: گراژدان (grazhdan), پۇقرا (puqra)
• Uzbek: shaharlik (uz), grajdan (uz)
• Vietnamese: công dân (vi)
• Welsh: dinesydd (cy) m
• Yiddish: בירגער m (birger)

antonym to "subject"

• Bulgarian: гра́жданин (bg) m (gráždanin), гра́жданка f (gráždanka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 市民 (zh) (shìmín)

• Estonian: kodanik
• Finnish: kansalainen (fi)
• Greek: πολίτης (el) m or f (polítis)
• Hungarian: polgár (hu)
• Japanese: 臣民 (ja) (しんみん, shinmin), 人民 (ja) (じんみん, jinmin), 民衆 (ja) (みんしゅう, minshū), 民 (ja) (たみ, tami)
• Macedonian: граѓанин m (graǵanin), граѓанка f (graǵanka)
• Portuguese: cidadão (pt) m
• Russian: граждани́н (ru) m (graždanín), гражда́нка (ru) f (graždánka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гра̏ђа̄нка f, гра̏ђанин m

  Roman: grȁđānka (sh) f, grȁđanin (sh) m

legal resident of a city

• Armenian: քաղաքացի (hy) (kʿaġakʿacʿi)
• Bulgarian: жи́тел m (žítel), жи́телка f (žítelka)
• Catalan: ciutadà (ca) m
• Dutch: burger (nl) m, poorter (nl) m (feudal age), stadsburger (nl) m
• Estonian: linnaelanik
• Finnish: kaupunkilainen (fi), porvari (fi)
• French: citoyen (fr) m, citoyenne (fr) f, habitant (fr) m, habitante (fr) f
• Georgian: მოქალაქე (mokalake)
• German: Einwohner (de) m, Einwohnerin (de) f, Bürger (de) m, Bürgerin (de) f
• Greek: δημότης (el) m (dimótis)
• Hungarian: városlakó (hu), város polgára, városi polgár
• Icelandic: borgari (is) m, íbúi (is)
• Indonesian: warga kota (id)
• Irish: cathróir m
• Italian: cittadino (it) m, cittadina (it) f
• Latin: burgēnsis m or f (medieval)
• Luxembourgish: Bierger (lb) m, Biergerin f
• Macedonian: граѓанин m (graǵanin), граѓанка f (graǵanka)
• Norman: citouoyen m (Jersey), citouoyenne f (Jersey)
• Polish: mieszkaniec (pl) m, obywatel (pl) m
• Portuguese: citadino m, citadina f
• Russian: горожа́нин (ru) m (gorožánin), горожа́нка (ru) f (gorožánka), жи́тель (ru) m (žítelʹ), жи́тельница (ru) f (žítelʹnica)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoranach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гра̏ђа̄нка f, гра̏ђанин m

  Roman: grȁđānka (sh) f, grȁđanin (sh) m

• Sinhalese: පුරවැසියා (si) (purawæsiyā)
• Slovene: meščan m, meščanka f, občan m, občanka f
• Swedish: innevånare (sv) c

resident of any particular place

• Arabic: سَاكِن (ar) m (sākin), سَاكِنَة f (sākina)
• Belarusian: жыха́р (be) m (žyxár), жыха́рка f (žyxárka), насе́льнік m (nasjélʹnik), насе́льніца f (nasjélʹnica), жы́цель m (žýcjelʹ), жы́целька f (žýcjelʹka)
• Bulgarian: жи́тел m (žítel), жи́телка f (žítelka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 居民 (zh) (jūmín)

• Czech: obyvatel (cs) m, obyvatelka (cs) f
• Danish: indbygger (da) c
• Dutch: burger (nl) m, inwoner (nl) m
• Estonian: kodanik
• Finnish: kansalainen (fi)
• French: habitant (fr) m, habitante (fr) f, résident (fr) m, résidente (fr) f
• German: Einwohner (de) m
• Greek: κάτοικος (el) m or f (kátoikos)
• Hungarian: lakó (hu)
• Indonesian: warga (id)
• Irish: cathróir m
• Italian: cittadino (it) m, cittadina (it) f, residente (it) m or f
• Japanese: 住民 (ja) (じゅうみん, jūmin)
• Korean: 주민(住民) (ko) (jumin)
• Macedonian: жител m (žitel), жителка f (žitelka)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: innbygger (no) m

• Polish: mieszkaniec (pl) m, mieszkanka (pl) f
• Portuguese: morador (pt) m, moradora f, residente (pt) m or f, habitante (pt) m or f
• Russian: жи́тель (ru) m (žítelʹ), жи́тельница (ru) f (žítelʹnica)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoranach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: стано̀внӣк m, стано̀вница f

  Roman: stanòvnīk (sh) m, stanòvnica (sh) f

• Slovak: obyvateľ m, obyvateľka f
• Slovene: prebivalec (sl) m, prebivalka f
• Swedish: innevånare (sv) c
• Ukrainian: ме́шканець m (méškanecʹ), ме́шканка f (méškanka), жи́тель m (žýtelʹ), жи́телька f (žýtelʹka)

civilian

• Arabic: مَدَنِيّ m (madaniyy), مَدَنِيَّة f (madaniyya)
• Belarusian: цыві́льны чалаве́к m (cyvílʹny čalavjék), цыві́льная асо́ба f (cyvílʹnaja asóba)
• Bulgarian: циви́лен (bg) m (civílen), циви́лно лице́ n (civílno licé)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 平民 (zh) (píngmín)

• Czech: civilista (cs) m, civilistka f
• Danish: civilist c
• Dutch: burger (nl) m, particulier (nl) m
• Esperanto: civilulo, civilulino (female)
• Estonian: tsivilist, eraisik
• Finnish: kansalainen (fi), siviili (fi) (non-military)
• French: civil (fr) m, civile (fr) f
• German: Zivilist (de) m, Zivilistin (de) f
• Greek: πολίτης (el) m or f (polítis)

  Ancient Greek: ^{(please verify)} πολίτης m (polítēs)

• Hebrew: אֶזְרָח (he) m (ezrákh), אֶזְרָחִית f (ezrakhít)
• Hungarian: civil (hu)
• Indonesian: warga sipil
• Irish: sibhialtach m
• Italian: civile (it) m or f
• Japanese: 文民 (ja) (ぶんみん, bunmin), 民間人 (ja) (みんかんじん, minkanjin)
• Korean: 민간인(民間人) (ko) (min'ganin)
• Latvian: civilists m, civiliste f
• Lithuanian: civilis m, civilisė f
• Macedonian: цивил m (civil)
• Malayalam: പൗരൻ (ml) (pauraṉ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sivilist m

• Persian: غِیرنِظامی (fa) (ğeyrenezâmi)
• Polish: cywil (pl) m
• Portuguese: civil (pt) m or f
• Romanian: civil (ro) m, civilă f
• Russian: гражда́нское лицо́ n (graždánskoje licó), гражда́нский челове́к m (graždánskij čelovék), гражда́нский (ru) m (graždánskij), шта́тский (ru) m (štátskij), ми́рный жи́тель m (mírnyj žítelʹ), ми́рная жи́тельница f (mírnaja žítelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: цѝвӣл m, цивѝлист m, цивѝлисткиња f, цивилистица f, грађанска особа f

  Roman: cìvīl (sh) m, civìlist (sh) m, civìlistkinja (sh) f, civilistica f, građanska osoba f

• Slovak: civilista m, civilistka f
• Slovene: civilist m, civilistka f
• Swedish: civilist (sv) c
• Tajik: ғайринизомӣ (ġayrinizomī)
• Turkish: sivil (tr)
• Ukrainian: циві́льна осо́ба f (cyvílʹna osóba), циві́льна люди́на f (cyvílʹna ljudýna), циві́льний (uk) m (cyvílʹnyj)
• Welsh: dinesydd (cy) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} citatano m, ^{(please verify)} citatana f
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} cīvis (la) m or f
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} ċittadin m, ^{(please verify)} ċittadina f
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} cetățean (ro) m, ^{(please verify)} cetățeancă (ro) f
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} పౌరుడు (te) m (pauruḍu), ^{(please verify)} పౌరురాలు f (paururālu)

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "citizen, n. and adj." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2014.

Anagrams

• zincite